It's like watching Rambo in the Old West. For all the talk we've heard, might means right after all. Good triumphs over bad, but the means are disappointingly primitive. The preacher takes off his collar and straps on his six-shooters, resolving the story in an explosion of shooting and killing. Like many an action picture, though, ``Pale Rider'' forgets its own sermon when the climax rolls around. Its clear definitions of virtue and evil are refreshing it cares about community and it minces no words about the importance of spiritual strength: The villain fears the hero's preaching more than his guns, and admits that his wicked designs will fail if the victims arm themselves with faith instead of weapons. Like some other recent films, it represents a return to ``traditional values'' in both good and bad ways. If it turns into a hit, as I think it will, ``Pale Rider'' will tell a good deal about today's moviegoing mentality. ``Pale Rider'' doesn't just employ the ritualized action and moral certainties of the old-fashioned horse opera - it celebrates them in scene after scene. He has never shown much patience with the shades of gray that crept into oaters during the 1950s and ate away the archetypes of the genre. For some time now, the conventions of the genre have been taken over by ``Star Wars'' science fiction and ``Indiana Jones'' fantasy, which serve the same function of playing white hats against black hats in a nonrealistic setting.Įastwood has always been a classicist, though, and if anyone can revive the western, he's the person for the job. They've tried a comeback once or twice, as with the superflop ``Heaven's Gate,'' but with no success. This makes it something of an avant-garde event, since westerns are supposed to have died about a dozen years ago. ``Pale Rider'' is a classical western in every sense. This sounds like familiar stuff, and it is. The heroic Man With No Name shows up just in time to vanquish the magnate and his hired guns. Their enemy is a decadent capitalist who ``rapes the land'' with a type of strip mining and harasses his peaceful competitors with fear and violence. The story takes place in a small mining camp, where would-be millionaires pan for gold, dreaming of a stable community and a decent life for their families. Eastwood plays his perfection with calm authority and - as director of the film - shapes each battle as a stark confrontation of good and evil. The hero of ``Pale Rider'' isn't just a man, he's a symbol of strength. Men gaze in wonder, women fall battily in love, and the camera worships him. His character is a godsend - a preacher and a fighter, lending moral strength to the good folks while winning every battle with the bad guys. He gallops into ``Pale Rider'' as a young girl prays for a miracle to save her threatened community.
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